Fire ring



Aug. 1, 1961 K. s. JENsoN ETAL FIRE RING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 4,1959 Aug- L 1961 K. s. JENsoN ET AL 2,994,368

[Ea/erigir lVV 5a f' 2,994,368 F RING Kenneth S. lIenson and FrederickW. Suhr, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., assignors to Preway, Inc. Filed Aug. 4,1959, Ser. No. 831,655 Claims. (Cl. 158-91) 'Ihis invention relates toan annular baffle or fire ring for use in pot type burner apparatus.

It is `a general object of the invention to provide a new and improvedre ring of the type described.

In pot type burners, of which there 'are now several well-known forms, aburner pot of generally cylindrical shape is usually utilized and thisis provided with a liquid fuel inlet at the bottom for admitting fueloil or the like in liquid form for vaporization and mixture with air forcombustion. In pots of this type, combustion may occur at any of severallevels within the pot varying from a low position adjacent the bottom ofthe pot to a high position adjacent the upper rim of the pot dependingupon the heat of the burner, the rate of fuel supply and the rate of airflow. Some burners are operated according to an on-off mode wherein theiire is extinguished when there is no call for heat and is reignitedwhen there is a need for heat, while other burners are operatedaccording to a so-called high-low manner wherein the iire is merelylowered to a pilot fire or low rre state when there is no call for heatand is increased when there is a demand for heat. According to eithermode of operation, and particularly with high-low burner operation,there may be utilized one or more annular baffles or fire ringspositionable within the pot either at a low position for maintainingsuitable conditions for low fire operation (in which case the ring maybe called a low re ring) or at a higher position within the pot for highfire operation (in which case the ring may be called a high re ring).

Whenever such annular baffles or re rings are utilized, they usuallytake the form of an annular ring having a substantial radial width andsometimes a frusto-conic inclination upwardly and inwardly. 'Ihe outerdiameter of such a ring is usually about equal to the inner diameter ofthe burner pot, and with such dimensions and construction, there usuallyoccurs no great diiiiculty in positioning the ring in the pot orremoving it from the pot. But ditlculty frequently is encountered duringassembly, maintenance or repair on inserting or removing the annularbaffle through a door or other opening provided in the outer burnerhousing to permit access to the burner interior. This occurs due to thefact that the baflies or tire rings may frequently be of a diameterbetween 8 and l2 inches while the housing doors or openings may be ofconsiderably smaller dimensions.

With the above in mind, it is a more specific object of the presentinvention to provide a new and improved baffle or re ring for a pot typeburner which is expandable to an annular shape to iit the burner potwith which it is intended to be utilized to thereby enable its use as alow re or high fire ring and which is collapsible in order to facilitateinsertion and removal of the baffle with reference to the remainder ofthe burner apparatus.

Another object is to provide a new and improved baflie of the typedescribed comprised of a plurality of arcuately shaped segmentspivotally connected together end to end and movable relative to eachother from a substantially annular shape to la generally oval shape.

A further object is to provide a new and improved collapsible bale ofthe type described having a substantially frusto-conic upward and inwardinclination.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a new and improvedbaile of the type described which is comprised of a series of arcuatelyshaped segments pivotally connected together end to end wherein thesegments each comprise a somewhat kidney-shaped or bean shaped plate ofthin metal which may be stamped or cut, thereby faciliating theformation of individual segments successively from a continuous sheet ofmetal having a width substantially equal the length of the segments in amanner to avoid excessive waste of materials.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. l is a vertical sectional view taken through the center of a burnerpot utilizing a low iire ring constructed according to the principles ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a fire ring as shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the ring shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of one of the segments used inmaking the collapsible ring shown in FIGS. l, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the segment shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken at about the line 6-6 of FIG.4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken at about the line 7 7 of FIG.2; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a ring such as that of FIGS. l, 2 and 3 ina collapsed somewhat oval shape facilitating insertion and removal ofthe ring relative to the burner apparatus.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in thedrawings and will be described in detail herein, the invention issusceptible of embodiment in many different forms, and it should beunderstood that the present disclosure is to be considered as anexemplication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to`limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of theinvention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, a pot type burnerapparatus of the type referred to may include among other structures ayburner pot such as that illustrated at 10 in FIG. l, including a bottomwall as at 1l, a cylindrical side wall as at 12 and a rim as at 13. Theburner pot may be supported in any suitable manner, and the bottom wallmay include a concentric annular depression or groove as at 14 whichforms a fuel well and Which is provided with an inlet suitably connectedwith the fuel supply pipe as at i5. In the form illustrated in FIG. l,Ian electrical ignition apparatus 16 is provided, and this includes anigniter element 17 which projects through the burner pot side wall intothe pot interior immediately above the annular fuel well 14 for thepurpose of initiating burner operation. Pots of this type may includeone or more radially inwardly projecting pins as at 19 suitably mountedin the burner pot side wall and providing a support for an annularbaffle or lire ring generally designated by the reference number Z0. Asillustrated in FIG. l, the tire ring is positioned to facilitate themaintenance of a low fire or pilot tire, but it will be understood thatthe ring could be positioned higher in the pot and thus might bedescribed as a high re ring under such circumstances.

The ring 20 is constructed according to the principles of the presen-tinvention, and as seen in FIGS. 2, and 8 it includes a plurality ofsegments 2.1 which may be described as arcuately shaped, kidney shaped,or bean shaped. lIn a preferred embodiment illustrated, four ofFatenieol Aug. l, 19m.'

the segments 21 are arranged end to end with adjacent end portionsoverlapping. As illustrated, progressing counterclockwise around thering as shown in FIG. 2, trailing end Yportions 21a of the segments areoverlying and leading end Vportions 2lb are underlying. Passing througheach pair of overlapping end kportions 21a and 2lb, a rivet 23 pivotallyinterconnects the segments to permit movement of each relative to theother.

To provide interengaging bearing surfaces and to facilitate free pivotalmovement of the segments relative to each other, each of the endportions 21a and 2lb is deformed concentrically about the rivet 23 toprovide an annular upwardly facing depression as at 24 and coincident tothe depression 24 a downwardly extending annular project-ion as at 25.The deformation 24, 25 is concentric With the rivet 23 and an opening 27provided in each segment end portion for receiving the rivets. Therivets 23 are each provided with a head as at 2S and are deformed as at29 so that the segments 21 are more 0r less permanently connectedtogether. ment, it will be understood that the downward annularprojection 25 on the overlying end portion Zia is nested in the upwardlyfacing annular depression 24 in the underlying end portion 2lb tothereby provide interengaging bearing surfaces which facilitate pivotalmovement of the segments about the axis of the rivets. The deformations24, 25 also serve to strengthen the end portions of the segments.

In order to strengthen the midportions of the segments, each is providedwith an elongate arcuate deformation in the form of an upwardly facingdepression as at 3i).

While it is intended that the invention will encompass a constructionwherein the re ring 2i! and each of the segments 21 are substantiallyflat and planar except for the deformations 24, 25, Sil, in thepreferred form each of the segments 21 and the composite ring 20 isshaped with an upward and inward frusto-conic inclination as fire ringsof this shape have been found to faciliate the maintenance of desiredconditions in the burner in some cases. This inclination in thecomposite baflle l is readily visible in FIGS. l and 3 on viewing thesurface designated by :the numeral 32 and is understandable inconnection with each of the individual segments on viewing FIG. 5. InFIG. 5, at the upper center, the height of the individual segment 21 isgreatest due'in part to the slightly greater width of the segment at thecenter than at the end portions.

In order to facilitate collapse of the conic baffle, in the preferredembodiment it includes four segments 21 which are similar in size andshape, but it will be understood that there could be a greater number ofsegments and that these may or may not all be identical in size andshape. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 8, it will be appreciated that upongrasping the annular baffle as shown in FIG. 2 and applying radiallyinward lateral pressure -to any two opposed pivots, these pivots aremovable toward each other while the other two pivots move away from eachother and that the bathe, even though conic, may be collapsed to aposition substantially as shown in FIG. '8. In the preferredarrangement, the collapsed shape is somewhat elliptical, but it will beappreciated that with other numbers of segments, the collapsed shape-maybe something other than elliptical and may possibly be egg shaped orirregularly shaped. Accordingly, the term oval shaped is used herein todesignate any non-circular or non-annular collapsed shape of the bafe.

The individual segments 21 are preferably made from thin sheet metal,and this facilitates manufacture of the segments by stmping or cuttingthe same from a-con- -tinuous sheet of metal having a Width about `equalf the length of the individual segments between the edges .3S and 36(FIG. 4). This facilitates the cutting of succes- =sive segments from acontinuous strip of metal without With this arrangesubstantial Wastematerial. Negligible waste many occur by removing triangular segments atopposite ends, leaving the edges 37 and 38 and by reducing the width ofthe segments at opposite ends by removing narrow pie-shaped portionsleaving the end edges 39 and 40. Preferably, the segments are made intwo simpl-e operations, a first stamping out the segments and punchingrivet holes 27, and a second shaping the segments to include thedeformations 24, 2S, 30 and a frusto-conic inclination.

We claim:

1. A collapsible re ring for pot type burners, comprising, a pluralityof generally arcuately-shaped plates in excess of three arranged end toend in a continuous ring generally in a common plane, means connectingadjacent ends together for relative pivotal movement generally in saidplane, said segments being movable relative to each other to a generallyoval shape facilitating insertion and removal of the ring through aburner door or opening of a size less than the outer diameter of thering when annular shaped.

2. A collapsible fire ring for pot type burners, comprising, a pluralityof kidney-shaped platelilce annulus segments in excess of three eachbeing relatively thin and having a substantial radial width, saidsegments being arranged end to end in a continuous ring generally in a`commton plane with adjacent ends overlapping to form a substantiallyannular baffle, and means pivotally interconnecting each pair ofoverlapped ends enabling movement of the segments relative to each otherabout axes transverse to said plane to a generally oval shape.

3. A collapsible re ring for pot type burners, comprising, a pluralityof at least four arcuate platelike segments arranged end to end withadjacent ends overlapping to form a continuous substantially annularbaffle, a pin passing through yand pivotally interconnecting each pairof overlapped ends, and each pair of overlapped ends having a circularindentation on one end concentric around the pivot pin and a matingcircular projection on the other end nested in the indentation, therebyto facilitate pivotal movement of the segments relative to each other toform a substantially annular shape wherein the ring is positionable in aburner pot or a generally oval shape enabling insertion of the ringthrough an opening smaller than the outer diameter of the ring whenannular shaped.

4. A collapsible fire ring for pot type burners, cornprising, aplurality of arcuate platelike segments disposed generally horizontallyand arranged end to end in a continuous substantially lannular shape,each segment having an inward and upward frusto-co'nic inclination andproviding an arcuate segment of a truncated cone thereby to form anannular substantially frusto-conical baffle positionable in acylindrical burner pot, and means pivotally interconnecting adjacentends enabling generally horizontal pivotal movement of each segmentrelative to each other toa generally oval shape.

5. A collapsible low tire ring for pot type burners, comprising, aplurality of kidney shaped plate-like segmen-ts in excess of threearranged end to end with adjacent ends overlapping toform a continuoussubstantially annular shape, each segment having a frusto-conicinclination and providing an arcuate segment of a truncated `conicsurface thereby to form an annular substantially frusto-conic baffle, arivet passing through and pivotally interconnecting each pair ofoverlapped ends, and each pair of overlapped ends having a circularindentation in one segment end concentric around the rivet and a matingcircular projection on the other segment end nested in the indentation,thereby to facilitate pivotal movement of the segments relative to eachother from a substantially annular shape wherein the ring ispositionable in a burner pot to a generally oval shape enablinginsertion of the ring through a burner opening y 5 6 smaller than theouter diameter of the ring when annular 1,018,663 Harrop Feb. 27, 1912shaped. 2,207,55 3 Reeves July 9, 1940 2,306,443 Howard Dec. 29, 1942References Cited in the le of this patent 2,469,885 Molla May 10, 1949UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 469,449 Kelley IFeb. 23, 1892845,142 Sullivan Feb, 26, 1907 11,357 Great Britain May 26, 1896

